Perilous Island

After calming down, Zhen Jin and Zi Di began discussing what to do next.

Their situation was extremely dire.

They had almost no food or water left, and survival tools were scarce in the wilderness and dense forest. Moreover, they were almost unarmed; Zhen Jin was practically empty-handed.

Zi Di suggested returning to the other side of the river to search for the guards who had only recently died. They had supplies, survival tools, and equipment on them.

Zhen Jin immediately approved of the good suggestion.

They did not choose to climb trees to get back. That was too dangerous.

They followed the river.

The river babbled along. Both banks were lush and thick with vegetation. There were also clear trampling marks in the grass by the river, left by the Silver-level Dire Wolf that had just run through.

After walking for a while, the river gradually narrowed while the terrain slowly rose, eventually forming two mounds facing each other across the small river.

The two mounds were not far apart. Rooted on opposite riverbanks, both extended out over the water for a stretch. Vegetation on the mounds was sparse.

On the mounds, the two of them once again found traces left by wolf claws.

"It seems that demon wolf jumped across the river from here."

The two climbed to the tops of the mounds.

The two mounds were close enough that they could easily jump across.

But if they lost their footing and fell into the water, they would certainly be hunted by the Golden Python Vine in the river and die without a whole corpse left behind.

"Look, what's that?" Zi Di pointed below.

Zhen Jin looked over, and his pupils contracted slightly.

He discovered many severed remnants of River Vine scattered along the riverbank.

A fierce battle had clearly taken place on this stretch of riverbank. It was a complete mess, and black soil covered the area, looking like solidified lava. It seemed highly suspicious.

Zhen Jin's heart sank. "The River Vine is a Gold-level magical plant, but it is not the overlord here. A battle took place here before, and it lost. Whatever fought it was at least Gold-level Life."

"This island really is fraught with danger!"

In such a short time, Zhen Jin had already encountered a Silver-level Dire Wolf, a Gold River Vine, and a mysterious Supernatural Life that was at least Gold-level.

"I can't activate Battle Qi. With my current strength alone, dealing with a Silver-level magical beast would be extremely difficult. My chances of victory are slim."

"Taking down that dire wolf before was entirely a trick."

"At the time, the dire wolf was in midair and had nowhere to brace itself. My sudden Awakening and attack caught it off guard. It had no way to dodge and was ultimately knocked into the river."

"The terrifying green vines in the water then took its life."

"If we had fought head-on, I would probably have been in grave danger."

"If I encounter such a fierce beast again, what should I do?"

The two successfully jumped across the river and ventured deeper into the Rainforest.

The blue sky was gradually obscured again, and the air was extremely hot and humid.

The ground felt soft beneath their feet because countless fallen leaves had accumulated there over time.

Zhen Jin had to look down at the path from time to time. Vines tangled everywhere, and tree roots lay exposed. A moment of carelessness could trip him.

Zi Di's steps paused slightly as she looked around. "It's nearby."

According to Zi Di, when the dire wolf had pursued them, the last three guards had remained behind here to buy time. They had done everything they could to hold back the dire wolf and give Zi Di and the unconscious Zhen Jin a chance at survival.

After taking several dozen more steps and going around a thick tree, the two saw the corpses.

Two bodies lay in the bushes, more than ten steps apart, giving off a strong smell of blood.

Their eyes were wide open, and fear and rage still lingered on their faces.

Zi Di could not help holding her breath and stopping where she was. Zhen Jin, meanwhile, hurried forward several steps and bent down to inspect them.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a thick black-and-red line shot out from beneath a corpse like an arrow fired from a crossbow, flying straight at Zhen Jin's face.

Zhen Jin's hairs stood on end, his pupils shrinking sharply to pinpoints as he reached out.

In one motion, he caught the "thick black-and-red line"!

"Hisss!"

Zhen Jin's fingers clamped around its head, making the black-and-red line immediately visible—it was a bizarre venomous snake!

The snake's scales were black, while its head was bright red. A distinct crimson line ran from its head down its back all the way to its tail.

On both sides of the snake's body, however, were hundreds of black, centipede-like legs.

"This is a Bronze-level magical beast!" Zhen Jin sensed the centipede snake's life aura, and his expression immediately became strained.

"Ah, be careful!" Everything had happened too fast. Zi Di only just reacted and cried out in alarm.

"This is a Bloodline Centipede Snake. It contains potent venom. Once the poison acts up, it can kill within a few breaths!" Zi Di hurriedly explained. "And its centipede legs can even pierce leather armor."

Before she had finished speaking, the Bloodline Centipede Snake's counterattack had already arrived.

Its body twisted and coiled around Zhen Jin's arm. Nearly all of its hundred centipede legs pierced into the Boy's arm, digging ever deeper.

Blood gushed out, and pain assaulted Zhen Jin's heart.

At the same time, Zhen Jin felt his arm being squeezed by an immense coiling force. His flesh seemed about to be crushed into pulp, while his arm bones groaned.

He quickly tightened his fingers, trying to choke the Bloodline Centipede Snake to death, but its bones were extremely hard and its scales tough and slick.

Zhen Jin let out a low shout, slammed the snake's head to the ground, swiftly drew his dagger with his other hand, raised it high, and stabbed down viciously.

The dagger seemed to pierce solid stone, nailing the snake's head deeply into the ground.

In its final death throes, the venomous snake drove its centipede legs another inch deeper, leaving Zhen Jin's arm even more drenched in blood.

But after a few breaths, the snake's body went completely limp.

Although it no longer had the strength to coil around him, its hard centipede legs remained embedded in the Boy's flesh.

Gritting his teeth, Zhen Jin first retrieved his dagger. Only after quickly retreating and moving away from the corpses did he pull the centipede legs out one by one.

Zi Di hurriedly took Medicinal Powder from her waist pouch and sprinkled a layer over the wounds on Zhen Jin's arm. Then she took out a white Bandage and swiftly dressed the Boy's wounds.

The wounds were relatively deep, but Zhen Jin's physique was excellent. Combined with the medicine's effectiveness, the bleeding quickly stopped.

A cool, almost pleasantly tingling sensation mixed with faint pain continually traveled from the wounds into Zhen Jin's heart.

"What medicine is this? It's so effective. Didn't they say this island prevents magic and Battle Qi from functioning?" Zhen Jin was curious about the medicine's immediate effect.

"This is an herb from the Barbarian Tribe of the Frost Continent. It isn't a Magic Potion; it simply makes use of the herb's natural properties," Zi Di explained.

Magic Potions were created when apothecaries used magical materials to successfully blend the ingredients and magical power within them into a balanced, stable state. Because such potions contained magical power themselves, they often took effect rapidly and produced outstanding results.

Zi Di looked at Zhen Jin's wounds, her eyes reddening slightly as she spoke with guilt and remorse. "Luckily, the centipede legs weren't poisonous! I'm sorry, sir. I got you hurt. I should have told you this information sooner."

Seeing the girl like this, Zhen Jin could not help feeling tenderness toward her. He shook his head and hurriedly comforted her. "This isn't your fault."

After crossing the river, they had traveled through the jungle with great vigilance toward their surroundings. Even when they spoke, their exchanges were limited so that they could avoid being distracted.

The Bloodline Centipede Snake had burst out of the corpse far too quickly, beyond Zhen Jin's expectations.

"Even a snake on this island is so strange and dangerous." Zhen Jin returned to the earlier spot, used the tip of his dagger to pry open the snake's head, then sliced its body open.

If I could activate Battle Qi, I wouldn't have been injured by it. Zhen Jin sighed inwardly.

Whether his Battle Qi was Silver-level or Black Iron-level, as long as he had been able to activate it for defense, the centipede legs would have found it difficult to pierce his arm.

Zhen Jin examined the inside of the venomous snake's body. Its belly contained a large amount of undigested food.

A sharp glint flashed through the Young Knight's eyes. "It seems this type of centipede snake likes to devour its prey's internal organs and lives on blood. No wonder it crawled out of the corpse."

"Strange." After searching twice, Zhen Jin felt puzzled. "Where is this magical beast's core?"

Magical beasts could absorb natural elements and nurture magical power unique to themselves. As that magical power accumulated over time, it formed crystallized magical power—the Monster Core!

Newborn magical beasts had no cores within their bodies. Young magical beasts had very small cores, while adult magical beasts all possessed cores.

This Bloodline Centipede Snake was clearly not young but fully mature, yet it had no core. This puzzled Zhen Jin.

Zi Di explained at once, "There are many strange and bizarre magical beasts on this island. Their life auras are all very strong, yet they strangely have no magical crystals in their bodies. The rescue team killed several magical beasts before, but they found no magical crystals in any of them. Perhaps for this reason, these magical beasts have never displayed any Spell-like Abilities."

"So that's how it is." Only then did Zhen Jin understand.

Although Monster Cores were valuable, if lacking magical crystals meant these magical beasts could not use Spell-like Abilities, then it was definitely more beneficial than harmful for Zhen Jin and Zi Di.

After dealing with the Bloodline Centipede Snake, Zhen Jin went back to inspect the corpses.

The two guards on the ground had long since died completely.

One man's fatal wound was on his throat. His entire neck had nearly been bitten through, with only a strip of flesh at the back still connecting it. The other was even more gruesome—his entire head had been violently deformed, brains mixed with blood spilling all over the ground.

Both were Fatal Strikes.

Both men's abdomens were also mangled. Those injuries had clearly been caused by the venomous snake.

Zhen Jin's expression grew even more solemn. He stood up and looked around.

He carefully noticed that the surrounding bushes had been severely trampled and broken.

To ordinary people, the scene would have appeared chaotic and disordered. Yet Zhen Jin found that he could effortlessly distinguish which traces had been left by people and which by the dire wolf.

Based on those traces, a virtual route even took shape before his eyes.

The Boy narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze following the route appearing in his mind as it gradually stretched into the distance.

But the bushes and dense forest soon blocked his view.

Zhen Jin began walking. After taking more than ten steps, he emerged from the bushes and turned around a large tree.

At that moment, a rare clearing in the forest appeared before him.

Zi Di followed Zhen Jin into the clearing.

Zhen Jin looked down and found that footprints remained in the clearing.

The ground in the dense forest was almost entirely covered in thick layers of fallen leaves. The rain was heavy as well, leaving the decaying leaves saturated with moisture.

Thus, the heavier a person was, the deeper their footprints would be when they stepped on the ground, often causing water to seep out as well.

The footprints in the clearing were spaced far apart, showing that their owners—the guards—had been running.

Zhen Jin focused and pondered, secretly deducing, "These two guards chose this clearing. There was no cover, but the field of view was excellent. It was an ideal battlefield for dealing with the dire wolf."

The scene replayed in his mind.

"But while they held their position here, they suddenly discovered that the dire wolf was running through the bushes, seemingly intending to bypass them and pursue Zi Di."

"So the two guards panicked and had no choice but to abandon their favorable terrain. They risked rushing into the bushes in an attempt to pursue and obstruct the dire wolf."

"In the bushes, the two guards ran one after the other. The dire wolf was extremely fast, but suddenly turned around to counterattack, leaping up and directly biting through one guard's head."

"After that, it rushed at the guard behind him and bit through his throat!"

Combining the corpses with all the traces, Zhen Jin made a series of deductions.

A chill could not help spreading from the depths of his heart throughout his body.

The Blue-haired Dire Wolf was savage and ferocious, yet also so cunning. It seemed able to see through human hearts, employing a combined bait-and-counterattack tactic. It had executed the tactic decisively and efficiently, rapidly succeeding in hunting the two guards.

Throughout the entire process, it had also made use of the terrain and the guards' desire to protect their master.

Even when it turned back to attack and unleashed Fatal Strike, it had been highly strategic—

Those without helmets had their skulls crushed directly by its fangs.

Those wearing helmets had their throats bitten through instead.

The two guards had not reached Black Iron-level, but both possessed Bronze-level strength. They had originally been no match for a Silver-level magical beast, but they should at least have inflicted some injuries on the dire wolf.

Yet when the guards finally sacrificed themselves, they had not made the dire wolf pay any price at all.

Zhen Jin sighed to Zi Di behind him. "This Blue-haired Dire Wolf definitely has Silver-level strength!"

The traces of battle were the best proof. The dire wolf's bite force and leaping power were clearly at the Silver-level.

Zhen Jin said with feeling, "The most terrifying thing is that it possesses unimaginable intelligence, completely surpassing ordinary magical beasts. Especially in its use of tactics, it is almost comparable to a human!"

"Generally speaking, wolves hunt in packs and use group tactics. Lone wolves are usually defeated wolves driven out by their packs, or old, weak, sick, and crippled ones."

Only fierce tigers hid and lay in wait, slowly approaching their prey before suddenly exerting force and striving for a one-hit kill.

"The dire wolf that chased us before was clearly extraordinary. Its tactics were even more insidious and ruthless than a tiger's."

"We were truly lucky to have dealt with it before!"

Zi Di nodded deeply in agreement, her face growing several shades paler. "I even suspected that dire wolf had a human soul! The first time we encountered it, it ambushed a member at the rear of our group."

"It clearly had the ability to kill him, yet it only dragged that guard away, forcing us to rush to his rescue."

"Our formation was thrown into complete disarray, giving it an opening."

"In the first battle, although we wounded it badly, it killed no fewer than three guards."

"We suffered heavy losses, so naturally we were furious. But the dire wolf was a Silver-level magical beast, and it had already vanished without a trace. After discussing it, we decided to continue searching for you, sir, and temporarily give up on taking revenge on the dire wolf."

"Many of us believed that the severely injured dire wolf would be devoured by other beasts in the jungle. Even if it survived, we thought we had hurt it badly enough that it would not dare provoke us again."

"But what happened afterward told us that we were all wrong."

"Terribly wrong!"

"The dire wolf appeared for the second time six days later. Most of its injuries had already healed, and at dusk, it charged straight into our camp."

"It carried a beehive in its mouth and flung it into the camp before immediately retreating."

"Afterward, a swarm of Fire Poison Bees attacked the entire camp. Those venomous bees were not even afraid of smoke or fire and carried fierce Fire Poison. We barely managed to drive them off, but four guards were stung. The most severely injured all fell unconscious."

"They burned with fever all over. I tried every method I could think of, but none could lower their temperatures. They all died later that same night."

"After that, our group suffered the dire wolf's surprise attacks again and again. It became the grim reaper claiming our lives, the nightmare we could never shake off..."

As Zi Di spoke, she wrapped her arms around herself. Her body trembled slightly, and lingering fear still filled her heart.

Zhen Jin looked at his Fiancee, who seemed on the verge of tears. Ah, she was so helpless.

The Young Knight could not help taking several steps forward, extending his arms, and drawing Zi Di into his embrace.

The girl's delicate body trembled, like a startled rabbit returning to a warm nest. Very quickly, her emotions settled within Zhen Jin's arms.

Zhen Jin gently patted the girl's back and lowered his head, seeing a shy expression gradually appear on her face.

"I understand how you feel," Zhen Jin said gently. "Now, I am with you. Unless I fall, I will always protect you and stop any magical beast from harming you."

"Sir Zhen Jin!" Tenderness filled Zi Di's eyes.